Papua New Guinea 65 snorkelling at the outer reef, village tours or hiking through lush vegetation and paddocks of tropical flowers on the Suicide Point walk, Dan and I make for the beach, a slither of paradise fronted by a sun-kissed turquoise lagoon and backed by rolling hills in blazing green hues. Hearing drums beating in the hills behind the beach, we go to investigate and are welcomed into a tiny hillside village overlooking a particularly deep ria. Village elders have gathered to welcome officials from the capital Port Moresby with a traditional‘ sing-sing’, a series of dances and songs which tell the history of the village. Four generations of one family perform the timeless dance steps, their elaborate headgear ablaze with the features of cockatoos, lorikeets and birds of paradise.
Up the coast, we travel by traditional outrigger canoes for the journey up a shallow river that winds its way through dense jungle. A father and son crew our simple outrigger, dipping their oars into the water with little, well-practiced flicks of the wrists. Both are dressed in traditional loin cloths and bright feathers which wrap their biceps and burst into colour as the sunlight punctures the canopy above.
The silence of the jungle is deafening, until suddenly tribesmen carrying spears attack from both sides in a simulated ambush that has me nearly clambering out of the vessel and into the murky water. The young boy at the bow quietly suppresses a laugh as I rearrange myself on the rather precarious raft with a new found respect for the early explorers who delved deep into the Papuan jungle, many never to return.
Our cruise nearly over, and our final destination, the volcanic mountain of Rabaul, only a night’ s sail away, Dan and I board a dive boat bound for the seas outside the eastern town of Madang, where we plan to discover a local legend. The American B-25 bomber was shot down by the Japanese 70 years before, crash landing in the sea and settling 30 meters below the waves. For my brother and I, exploring this tangible, hidden piece of history is a truly unique, and humbling, experience. The warm tropical seas of Papua New Guinea have been surprisingly merciful; an inquisitive moray eel now calls the starboard wing home, and delicate lion fish frolic in the bullet holeridden fuselage, but the ancient bomber is still in remarkable shape. We dive deep, ducking below gun turrets and taking turns to sit in the cockpit, streams of bubbles dancing up to the surface above. The experience is exhilarating.
I’ m sad to be leaving Papua the next day as our charter jet sours into the sky bound for the civilisation of Australia. The past 11 days have been a kaleidoscope of colours, cultures and encounters that won’ t soon be forgot, but I’ m comforted, looking down to the endless jungle, the towering peaks and winding rivers below, that there is still be plenty of Papua’ s wild side yet to be discovered.
Travel Essentials
Getting There: Take Cathay Pacific( www. cathaypacific. com) direct from Hong Kong to Cairns in Australia. Charter flights between Australia and Rabaul are organised by Orion Expeditions.
Getting Around: Orion Expeditions( www. orionexpeditions. com) is Australia’ s leading expeditionary cruise line with itineraries across the Pacific, Russia’ s far east, the Australian Kimberley and even Antarctica. www. jetsetter. hk